Technology advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques (or fracking) have boosted efficiency in production of natural gas from shale. These advances have also led to an increase in natural gas liquids (NGLs) production. The NGLs include hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane, and propane, which are valued as raw materials in the petrochemical markets. Ethane is used as the feedstock for production of high purity ethylene (high capital expense process due to purity constraint), which is a valuable feedstock for several chemicals (e.g., polyethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, vinyl chloride monomer, etc.).
While it is easy to liquefy propane/butanes, it is much more energy intensive to liquefy ethane, making economic transportation of ethane challenging and expensive. What is needed are cost-effective processes and systems that can convert ethane into more valuable fuels that are more easily transported.
In the US, government mandates have required increasing quantities of biomass-derived ethanol to be blended into transportation fuels. Due to concurrent reductions in US gasoline production and consumption, the quantity of ethanol blended into gasoline may soon exceed 10%, which may have implications for the operability of certain older vehicles not designed to utilize such fuels. Additionally, blending of increasing quantities of biomass-derived ethanol into fuels increases the overall Reid Vapor pressure to levels that exceed government mandated levels. Accordingly, a need also exists for methods and systems to allow incorporation of increased quantities of biomass-derived ethanol into gasoline, while preserving the ability to utilize the resulting fuel in all gasoline-powered vehicles and maintaining the Reid vapor pressure of the fuel at acceptable levels.